Electric tire inflation indicator



April 1951 R. COZZOLINO ET AL 2,550,041

ELECTRIC TIRE INFLATION INDICATOR Filed Aug. 25, 1947 IN VEN TORSRINALDO COZZOLINO 8- L.L.BUSTOS ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 24, 19512,550,041 :ELECTRICTIREJNFLAFIION INDICATOR Rinaldo Cozzolino and Larry.L. 'Bustos, Pueblo, Colo., assigncrs of twenty-twoper cent to A. A.Fraterelli, ten. :per cent to S. Philip Cabibi, thirty-three per :centto Larry L. Bustos, and thirty-five per cent to Rinaldo. .Qozzolino, all

of Pueblo, .0010.

Application August 25, 1947, 'SerialNo. 7705406 ":3 Claims. 1

This invention relates .to indicators and more particularly to a devicefor indicating the.:pressure of the air in the pneumatic :tires of anautomobile or other vehicle and to provide audible and visual. means:ior indicating pressures existing in the tires which'iare of a lowerorhigher valuegtha'n that desired therein.

It is an object of the invention to provide a tire inflation indicatorwhereby the air pressure existing in any of the tires of the vehicle maybe accurately and instantly determined.

,A .further object of th invention is the provision of a tire inflationindicator whereby unsafe air pressures will be instantly brought to theattention of the operator of the vehicle by visual or audible means. I

Another object of the invention is theprovisijon of an electric tireinflation indicator which is simple and easy to construct and use andwhich is durable and long lasting.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent. "fromthe 'fOllOWing specification taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 "is an elevation partially in section through a vehicle wheelshowing the wheel unit of the invention in place;

Fig. 2, a detail of the connector lug;

Fig. 3,-a detailpartially insection showingthe construction of the airpressure responsive unit;

Fig. 4, a plan view of the control dial; and

Fig. 5, a circuit diagram'of the invention. With continued reference tothe drawings, a vehicle wheel Ill is provided with a conventional rim H-and tire l2 having a tube I3 andvalve stem I 4. Theval-ve stem 14 isprovided with a branch line l5 leading to a pressure responsive unitorzgauge l fi. Gauge I6 is supported by bracketsor'supports llattachedto lugs I8 and ['9 of the vehicle wheel by means of lug boltsand 21.. The auge is comprised of a casing :22 which may be of eitherconducting or non-conducting material and has attached thereto :bysuitable means a pressure responsive tube 2301 the Bourdon type which.is in communication "with the aforementioned tire tube l3 by means 'ofthe connection l5and valve stem 14.

A U-shaped arm indicated at 24 is pivotally attached to the extremity ofthe pressure tube '23 by a pin .25 and said arm is pivota-lly attachedto the casing 22 of said gauge by apin 25'. One side .of the .U-shapedarm 24 has a U-shaped portion 26 having associated therewith a movablecontact 21.

Attached to said casing .22 but insulated there- 2 from by'suitablemeans is a rheostat or coil 28 having a lead 2.9 and a conductorbarindicated at 30. The conductor bar 30 is attached to the lead 29 at a,point .32. Although the coil 28 is shown as a variable resistance, theinvention is not limited to this type of circuit character- 'isticdetermining means as any may be employed which will vary the circuitcharacteristics in accordance with the air pressure in the-tires. Saidconductor bar has an arm or projection 3|,

adjustably positioned on said bar, which maybe set-along said rheostatin a position corresponding to a predetermined pressure of theassociated tire. Theconstruction of the gauge provides that movements-ofthe tube 23 in response to changes in pressure in the tire tube I3 willproduce a movement of the pin 25 causing the arm 24 to pivot about thep-ini25', moving the rheostat contact'2l :across the surface ofthe'rheostat.

Increasing pressures will cause the contact 21 :to move across therheostat. toward the lead .29 but thedevice is designed so that asubstantial resistance-willremain in the circuit at the extent :shuntacross the rheostat to the lead 29 there :by nullifying the effect ofsaid rheostatx The lead 29 from the gauge .22 is connected to tapost 33by asuitable fastener 34. The post 33 has a sleeve '35 surrounding itand a spring 36 within the sleeve abutting shoulders '37 onthe sleeve:and '38 on the post in such a as to urge the shoulders apart.Insulation 3-9, surrounding the sleeve :35 is provided the entire lengththereof. The lug I3 is provided with :an aperture 4%), therethrough forreceiving the post 13:3, its sleeve 35 and insulation 39 as shown inFig. 2.

.-A contactrin ei of conducting material is supported by brackets 52 ofnon-conductingmaterial attached-to. the axle support'by fasteners '43,thej'post 33therefor beingqmaintained in constant resilient contact withthe contact ring at by means of the lug assembly previously referred to.

A lead 44 secured to the contact ring 4! by a suitable fastener 415extends to a lead contact 46 in .a junction box or the like where leadcon tacts 41,48, 49 and 5!! are also gathered from theother tires,including a spareof the vehicle.

Conductors extend from each of the contacts 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50respectively to contact points 48, 49' and 50' on a selector switch Acontact segment 52 of conducting material is provided on a portion ofthe switch opposite the contact points. A pivotally mounted conductorarm or pointer 53 is provided for connecting the contact points to thecontact segment. Leads 46", 41", 48", 49 and 50" are provided from eachof the contacts 46, 41, 48, 49 and 50 to a collector contact point 54located on the switch. On Fig. 5 of the drawing a schematic diagram ofthe circuit from the contact 50 through the contact ring 4|, the post33, the lead 29, the resistance 28, the contact 21 and to the ground areshown. It is understood that a similar circuit extends to each of theother wheels.

A lead 55 extends from the segment 52 to a normally closed relay 5'!having an armature 56. Lead 56 connects the relay armature 56 with acircuit characteristic indicating instrument or voltmeter 58 and lead 59extends therefrom to a source of power or battery 65 which is suitablygrounded to the chassis of the vehicle at 5 l. Lead 62 extends fromrelay 5'! to battery 60. Relay 5'! is designed to actuate its armature53 at currents above a certain predetermined value. Voltmeter 58 isgraduated to read in pounds per square inch of tire pressure or othersuitable units.

The circuit described above provides means whereby the pressure withinpredetermined limits in any tire may be indicated on the instrument 58by manually moving the conductor arm 53 to a position whereby itconnects the contact point corresponding to the tire whose air pressureit is desired to ascertain to the contact egment 52, the current thenpassing through the instrument 58 being proportional to the resistancein the rheostat 28, and the circuit from the lead 29 to the k rheostatpoint 21 being completed to the frame of the vehicle through the arm 24,casing 22 and brake 11.

When the pressure in a tire reaches a predetermined low value resultingin the shunting out of the rheostat 23 so that the current flow might begreat enough to endanger the instrument 58, the relay 5'! is actuated tobreak the circuit to said instrument, resulting in a reading on saidinstrument of zero; thus a zero reading on the instrument indicates thatthe pressure in the corresponding tire is dangerously low.

Means are provided whereby a dangerously low or high air pressureexisting in any of the tires will be automatically called to theattention of the operator, without the necessity of his contacting eachof the individual contact points. When a signal is received the operatormay then con.- tact the individual points and determine which of thetires requires attention.

When the conductor arm 53 is in the position shown in Fig. 5, it willconnect the collector contact point corresponding to leads from all ofthe tires to a contact 54' to which is connected a lead 64 and a bell orother audible indicator 65, lead 65, a light or other visual indicator61, and lead 59 which is connected to the battery 60 and ground 6|. Thebell 65 is adapted to be actuated at values of voltage less than that atwhich the light 61 is adapted to be actuated. The bell 65 therefore willsound when the voltage applied thereto reaches a point corresponding tolow resistance on a rheostat of a tire gauge, and light 61 will lightonly with the resistance of the rheostat is substantially zero andoccurs when the arm associated therewith contacts the conductor arm 3|.The construction of this circuit therefore provides that when the airpressure in a tire reaches a predetermined high value the bell will beactuated alone, but if the pressure is zero or dangerously low, both thebell and the light will be actuated. Upon receiving either of thesesignals, the operator may proceed to determine which tire is unsafe aspreviously outlined.

It is contemplated that in normal use the conductor arm 53 will be leftin the standby position whereby an unsafe pressure existing in any ofthe tires may be instantly recognized.

The control box for the device may be mounted on the dashboard of thevehicle or other suitable place and may take the form shown in Fi 4wherein the indicating instrument 58, visual signal means 61 and switchhandle 69 which is mounted axially with the conductor arm 53 may bemounted on a panel 68. The various positions of the contact pointsleading to the various tires may be indicated on the panel as shownalthough it is obvious that other means of positioning the controls maybe employed.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isshown in the drawing and described in the specification but only asindicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A tire inflation indicator for a vehicle comprisin in combinationwith a plurality of wheels each having a pneumatic tire, pressureresponsive means communicating with each of said tires, means associatedwith each of said pressure responsiv'e means for determining theelectrical characteristics of a circuit in accordance with the pressurein each of said tires, each of said circuit characteristic determiningmeans having a shunt adapted to be connected thereacross to eliminatesaid means from said circuit and means for connecting said shunt whenthe pressure in said tire is less than a predetermined value, anelectrical connection from each of said circuit characteristicdetermining means to an individual contact point of a selector switch,an electrical connection from each of said circuit characteristicdetermining means to a common contact point on the selector switch, acontact segment on said selector switch, a movable arm associated withsaid selector switch for connecting any of said individual contactpoints to said contact segment, a lead extending from said contactsegment to a normally closed relay, a first lead extending from saidrelay to a source of electrical energy, a second lead extendin from saidrelay to a circuit characteristic indicating instrument and a lead fromthe instrument extendin to said source of electrical energy, said sourceof electrical energy being grounded to the frame of said vehicle wherebysaid instrument may provide an indication of the pressure in any of saidtires when said movable arm provides a connection between the contactsegment and the contact point of the tire whose pressure it is desiredto ascertain and whereby when the electrical energy passing through saidrelay exceeds a predetermined value said relay will open the circuit tosaid instrument; a contact point on said switch having a lead extendingto an audible type signal adapted to be electrically energized,

a lead extending to a visual type signal adapted to be electricallyenergized and a lead extending to saidsource of electrical energy, saidaudible type signal being adapted to be actuated by a lesser amount ofelectrical energy than is required to actuate said visual type signal,whereby said movable arm may connect said common contact point with thecontact having a lead extending to said audible and said visual typesignals in order to actuate said audible type signal when the pressurein any one or more of said tires exceeds a predetermined value and toactuate both of said signals when the pressure in any one or more ofsaid tires is below a predetermined value.

2. A tire inflation indicator comprising in combination with a pluralityof wheels, each having a pneumatic tire, pressure responsive meanscommunicating with each of said tires, circuit characteristicdetermining means associated with each of said pressure responsive meansand variable in response to changes in the pressure therein, meanswhereby the eifect of said circuit characteristic determining means maybe nullified when a predetermined pressure is reached, a elector switch,a first electrical connection from each of said circuit characteristicdetermining means to an individual contact point of said selectorswitch, a second electrical connection from each of said circuitcharacteristic determining means to a common contact point of saidselector switch, a contact segment on said selector switch having a leadextending to a circuit characteristic indicating means, a contact onsaid switch having a lead extending to a signal adapted to be electrically energized, the leads from the contact and from the segmentextendin to a source of electrical energy, and a movable arm associatedwith said elector switch, whereby said movable arm may connect saidcommon contact point with the contact having a lead extending to saidsignal to indicate when the pressure in one or more of said tires isgreater or less than predetermined values, and whereby said movable armmay connect said contact segment with any one of said individual contactpoints in order to indicate the value of the circuit characteristic ofthe circuit characteristic determining means of the associated tire.

3. A tire inflation indicator comprising in combination with a pluralityof wheels, each having a pneumatic tire, pressure responsive meanscommunicating with each of said tires, circuit characteristicdetermining means associated with each of said pressure responsive meansand variable in response to changes in the pressure therein, a selectorswitch, a first electrical connection from each of said circuitcharacteristic determining means to an individual contact point of saidselector switch, a second electrical connection from each of saidcircuit characteristic determining means to a common contact point ofsaid selector switch, a contact segment on said selector switch having alead extending to a circuit characteristic indicating means, a contacton said switch having a lead extending to a signal adapted to beelectrically energized, and a movable arm associated with said selectorswitch, whereby said movable arm may connect said common contact pointwith the contact having a lead extending to said signal to indicate whenthe pressure in one or more of said tires is greater or less thanpredetermined values, and whereby said movable arm may connect saidcontact segment with any one of said individual contact points in orderto indicate the value of the circuit characteristic of the circuitcharacteristic determining means of the associated tire.

RINALDO COZZOLINO. LARRY L. BUSTOS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,811,769 Weaver June 23, 19311,908,503 Behrend May 9, 1933 2,033,424 Gieskieng Mar. 10, 19362,135,303 Greene Nov. 1, 1938 2,167,568 Harfst July 25, 1939 2,248,047Addy et al. July 8, 1941 2,325,179 Doering July 27, 1943 2,355,295I-Iolinaty Aug. 8, 1944

